Signatures have been used for centuries to notarize and authenticate documents. A person's handwritten signature can give evidence of the provenance of a document as well as the intention of the person with regard to that document. For example, the role of a signature in many consumer contracts is not solely to provide evidence of the identity of the contracting party, but rather to additionally provide evidence of deliberation and informed consent. The unique properties of a person's signature have enabled their use as a legally binding indication that a signing individual, or signatory, understands and consents to documents containing their signature. Historically, signatures have also proven useful to thwart attempts at forgery. Even studious endeavors to write another's signature can often be detected by the trained eye.
With the ushering in of the digital age, a replacement for a person's handwritten signature has long been sought. However, despite the ability to transmit information over great distances with relative ease, an electronic substitute for the signature has been slow in coming. Conventionally, obtaining signatures on electronic documents has been a cumbersome and time-consuming process. For instance, to obtain a signature on an electronic document required an individual to print out the electronic document, sign it, and then scan the document back into electronic form. This wastes valuable time and resources and requires use of several electronic devices including a computer, a printer, and a scanner.
While many attempts have been made to create a digital equivalent for the signature, the written signature has proven difficult to replace. A comparable equivalent has not been found that includes a signature's unique ability to connect a person's intent and identity with a document upon which their signature is placed. There have been many attempts made by government, legal, and industry groups to create legally binding, digital equivalents of the written signature, but despite this, many industries have been slow to adopt such efforts. The lack of an adequate replacement for a hand-written signature tends to reduce the amount of business and legal work that can be accomplished between remote locations.